UltraLux's recently rebranded and responsive home page for UltraLux representative agencies. Reorganized drop-down menus to make navigation easy. Page-load times are lightning fast.
Premium Luxury Travel
Since I cannot reveal the name or anything proprietary about this client, I’ll use a pseudonym: UltraLux Travel. UltraLux is a global powerhouse in business travel as well as exclusive vacations and has one of the most recognizable brands in the world. They had a problem: Their extranet was outdated and unreliable. Complaints ranged from lethargic page-load times to users being presented with a labyrinth of complex, disorganized and unnavigable links. Many links were simply broken.
The extranet was supposed to serve UltraLux agencies that were owned by UltraLux and privately owned ones that paid significant sums to be represented by the UtraLux brand, yet the extranet was serving practically no one.
The first order of business was to create a sitemap by physically clicking on every link. It was a painstaking task, because in addition to the sheer volume of links, there were several user tiers: Owners, Managers and Agents.
Note: Clicking on images will open full-size screen captures in a new window. They will scale to the width of the viewport, but will not be responsive since they are satic images.
The team completely reorganized the site content, then determined the optimal way to display it by using a templated page structure:
- Home page template to present top-level navigation.
- Hub page template to serve as content-rich information centers.
- Grid page template for displaying rows and columns of paginated data.
- Modal template for requiring action from a user.
Each page was created dynamically based on the user's type and user's role. For example, a representative agency Owner would see different content than a Manager or Agent. Sensitive financial information, contracts between the agency and UltraLux, and performance data on the various programs the agency was enrolled in would not be displayed for anyone other than the Owner, unless specified as authorized by the Owner. For large agencies, Owners would have access to data for multiple branches.
Managers would typically see performance data of Agents in their charge as well as program-participation data and activity on the site. Agents would see only their own performance data.
An example of a reporting grid that, depending upon the amount of data to display, will either allow the user to scroll through the table or will be paginated to keep load times fast.
Grids opened as modals, so they were the only thing that could be actioned on once viewed. Grids could contain personnel-performace data, program-performance data or any combination.
Owners' and Managers' grids often use dropdown menus to allow the user to select specific Agents, groups of Agents or program-performance data.
An example of an Owner's My Agency page where accordion drawers open to display information pertaining to the agency's relationship with UltraLux.
Example of UltraLux's owned office home page. As with representative agencies, content is dynamic based on tiers.
Owned Agencies
Apart from the extranet created for travel agencies represented by the UltraLux brand, there is a version for offices owned by UltraLux. Similarly, the content displayed was dynamic by user role and user type. While supervisory-level users had access to usage and performance data, the content differs significantly from the representative version.
Some travel professionals were eligible to participate in various programs that offer travel to destinations and exclusive resorts worldwide. It is part of UltraLux's culture to educate their Agents with first-hand knowledge of the types of destinations they offer. Additionally, Agents may also take online training to earn points they can use toward travel and/or purchasing other perks related to travel, such as meals, spa visits and other resort amenities that are not included with the travel reservation.
Agents can easily track incentives, purchases, reservations and other events, as well as inbound and outbound communications. Each Agent has a calendar that updates according to activities they participate in and access to various training modules. Agents may also record incentives and awards received outside of the system to ensure that UltraLux is within governmental regulatory-compliance guidelines. It's important to note the compliance features were automated. Previously, it had been a laborious manual-filing procedure. Now, Agents report qualified incentives with easy-to-use, online forms.
Example of UltraLux's owned-office Store page with search results. The Agent can scroll through the results and click on the "Reserve Now" button to learn the details of the offer.
The structure of UltraLux's owned-office version also makes use of a templated structure:
- Home page template to present top-level navigation.
- Store page template to display travel and travel-related opportunities for qualified Agents.
- Grid page template for displaying rows and columns of paginated data.
- Modal template for requiring action from a user.
Once again, we automated a complex and laborious process. Additionally, this improvement reduced incidents of Agents operating outside the program parameters.
After an Agent selects a property, they purchase the visit using points they've earned and complete a series of online forms. On completion, a certificate is generated for both the Agent and the participating property.
Forms. Forms. Forms.
Apart from sharing information with travel professionals, partner properties and travel suppliers, UltraLux's extranet uses hundreds of forms that, as part of the mission, were automated from a manual process or, in some instances, created to collect valuable data.
As mentioned above, qualified Agents get to visit the exotic and prime destinations UltraLux offers to its clientele. When an Agent finds a desired destination to visit they now have an online tool to keep every trip organized and lines of communication clear.
Automating the process begins with a schematic depicting the flow of communication and accounting for various scenarios.
Training videos and Quick Reference Guides are available for viewing/download. I cannot display them as they are too heavily branded.
Depending on the data being collected, forms can vary greatly. These screen shots represent only a few of hundreds of forms created for both data collection and dissemination between UltraLux, travel professionals, travel suppliers and governmental regulatory bureaus.
The examples above represent a user profile and forms to collect data for governmental compliance.
This example of the accordion-style drawers show every possible status. Those statuses where the Agent is required to take action are tagged with red text.
Agents visiting partner properties are required to submit a detailed feedback form upon completion of their visit.
An example of a travel supplier portal landing page.
Travel Suppliers
Travel suppliers come in a variety of types: air, car, cruise, hotel and tour. Many suppliers provide training about their products and services. This supplier-facing portal allows them to upload videos and other training material to UltraLux's websites.
Each active supplier is given a home page where they control the content. Suppliers can add accordion drawers as needed and manage their profile to keep their information up-to-date.
When suppliers log into the portal, they are instantly updated on the number of visits Agents have made to the page as well as statistics on the number of views/downloads of videos/promo materials.
The portal also serves as the travel supplier's access point to upload special offers to be displayed on the Store pages discussed earlier.
Because UltraLux has relationships with an extensive number of travel Agents, it presents a unique opportunity for travel suppliers to get their brands in front of them, on the very screens the Agents look at throughout their day.
Ad revenue from suppliers helped to offset a portion of the cost of building out UltraLux's extensive network. The portal's advertising page is self-serve.
The user selects the ad size, predetermined placement options, campaign dates, and uploads artwork. Easy as one, two, three. The travel supplier has total control. There is an option for a promo code, and click-throughs and downloads (if applicable) are reported directly to the supplier's portal page.
Administration
There isn't any way to display the backbone of this entire network without disclosing proprietary information. What I can do is explain in a very general way is to highlight the robustness of the administrator portion. Every pixel of information that is collected or distributed is controlled from here.
This includes the ability to slice and dice content, controlling which users see what. The admin is also for managing UltraLux's travel programs, who participates in them, access to various travel-selling tools and much, much more.
Beyond managing the content of the network, the reporting suite tracks every mouse click, page load and myriad other metrics.
